Northern Illinois 2012 Recruiting

Northern Illinois Huskies 2012 ... Head Coach: Dave Doeren

Northern Illinois Huskies

2011 Record: 10-3

Sep. 3 Army W 49-26
Sep. 10 at Kansas L 45-42
Sep. 17 Wisconsin (in Chi) L 49-7
Sep. 24 Cal Poly W 47-30
Oct. 1 at Central Mich L 48-41
Oct. 8 Kent State W 40-10
Oct. 15 Western Mich W 51-22
Oct. 22 at Buffalo W 31-30
Oct. 29 OPEN DATE
Nov. 1 at Toledo W 63-60
Nov. 8 at Bowling Green W 45-14
Nov. 15 Ball State W 41-38
Nov. 25 Eastern Michigan W 18-12
MAC Championship
Dec. 2 Ohio W 23-20  
 
2010 CFN Prediction: 9-3
2010 Record: 11-3

Sept. 2 at Iowa State L 27-16
Sept. 11 North Dakota W 23-17
Sept. 18 at Illinois L 28-22
Sept. 25 at Minnesota W 34-23
Oct. 2 at Akron W 50-14
Oct. 9 Temple W 31-17
Oct. 16 Buffalo W 45-14
Oct. 23 Central Mich W 33-7
Oct. 30 at Western Mich W 28-21
Nov. 9 Toledo W 65-30
Nov. 16 OPEN DATE
Nov. 20 at Ball State W 59-21
Nov. 26 at Eastern Mich W 71-3
MAC CHAMPIONSHIP
Dec. 3 Miami Univ. L 26-21
HUMANTARIAN BOWL
Dec. 18 Fresno State W 40-17
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The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class
 
Top 5 Northern Illinois Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. OT Mike Cotton
6-3, 210, Scout.com 70th ranked, three-star linebacker

2. DT Mario Jones
6-3, 255, Scout.com 110th ranked defensive tackle

3. TE Destory Maxwell
6-2, 240, Scout.com 76th ranked tight end

4. QB Matt Williams
6-3, 190, Scout.com 110th ranked quarterback

5. OT Josh Ruka
6-6, 290, Scout.com 126th ranked tackle

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... This year is about the lines; next year will take care of the skill players. Dave Doeren came up with a MAC title in his first season and now he’s pulling in a decent class, but not a great one. The quarterback situation is being addressed for the future and the always great Huskie offensive line is getting more prospects. Defensively, the stars are in the linebacking corps that should pay off relatively soon.

Team Concerns For 2012: Chandler Harnish. NIU was able to run the ball over the last few years because of the talent in the backfield and the mobility of Harnish, who did a little of everything for a team that should’ve won two MAC titles. The offensive line always comes up with good players, but it might take awhile to replace center Scott Wedige, tackle Trevor Olson, and four starters.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: The defending MAC champion has to show it can reload and not need to rebuild. The Huskies lose star quarterback Chandler Harnish and top running back Jasmin Hopkins, but the biggest hit comes up front with four starters gone. Top target Perez Ashford and most of the receiving corps returns. The defense has to do some retooling at linebacker, but the entire secondary returns and three starters are back up front.

The 2011 Class Was Heavy On … 2012. New head coach Dan Doeren came to the party a bit late, but he didn’t need to do too much for a team already loaded up with young prospects. Doeren and his staff will have to do far more with his next class, but this one has a few decent players here and there like pounding JUCO transfer Jamal Womble, who should be a part of the rotation right away. Big offensive tackle Matt Killian will be an all-star sooner than later.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 114. That Class Was Heavy On ... Defensive backs. The one area that didn't need an instant impact was the offensive backfield, yet two of the key players were QB Casey Weston and RB Jasmin Hopkins to upgrade the talent level. However, Jerry Kill loaded up mostly on defensive backs bringing in Demetrius Stone from the JUCO ranks and DeChane Durante to be a part of the safety rotation. Akeem Daniels isn't a big corner, but he can fly.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 91. That Class Was Heavy On ... The passing game. Head coach Jerry Kill got a full recruiting season to work, and he brought in some playmakers to beef up a passing attack that struggled last year. Quarterbacks A.J. Hill and Jordan Lynch are strong prospects, and while there aren’t any receiver standouts, there are a lot of them and they can move.

Dec. 2 MAC Championship
Northern Illinois 23 … Ohio 20

CFN Analysis: The Huskies were able to overcome the four turnovers and the miserable first half to roll in the second half with more energy and no mistakes. It was as if the team needed to make it that much harder to finally win a MAC title. … Chandler Harnish couldn’t get going on the ground, but he showed what he could do through the air by leading the team back in finishing with 250 yards and three scores with a pick. … Sean Proger set the tone for the defense with seven tackles and four quarterback hurries. He screwed things up for the Ohio offense in the second half. … If this is it for Dave Doeren, he got the job done. He finally got the program over the hump. 

(AP) DETROIT -- Chandler Harnish helped Northern Illinois finish on the winning side of this fourth-quarter comeback.

Harnish threw two of his three touchdown passes in the final period, and Mathew Sims kicked a 33-yard field goal on the final play to cap a furious rally that gave the Huskies a 23-20 victory over Ohio in the Mid-American Conference title game Friday night.

Northern Illinois trailed 20-0 at halftime, but by the end of the night, the Huskies were celebrating their first MAC championship since 1983.

"I said yesterday that this is where the senior class was going to leave its legacy, but I was terrible in the first half," Harnish said. "I didn't want to go out like that."

It was a delightful turnabout for Northern Illinois, which lost in the 2010 and 2005 MAC title games on last-minute touchdowns by Miami of Ohio and Akron. Last year's defeat was particularly cruel. Miami converted on fourth-and-20 before scoring the winning touchdown.

"What happened last year? I'm not thinking about that anymore," Harnish said. "The only history that matters now is what we made today."

Ohio hasn't won a MAC title since 1968, but the Bobcats are still one of six teams from the conference that are bowl eligible. The league has primary agreements with the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, the GoDaddy.com Bowl and the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Ohio (9-4) led 20-7 in the fourth quarter, but Harnish threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Martel Moore, then a 22-yarder to Nathan Palmer to tie it with 2:52 left.

"We had plenty of chances, we just didn't do enough with them in the second half," Ohio coach Frank Solich said. "All three phases of the game had some kind of collapse in the second half. We didn't do anything as well as we needed to do."

Sims, who missed an extra point earlier in the fourth, redeemed himself after Harnish moved the Huskies into range for the winning kick.

Harnish went 16 of 26 for 250 yards and three touchdowns, helping Northern Illinois win its eighth straight game. The Huskies overcame four turnovers.

Ohio's Tyler Tettleton, the son of former major league catcher Mickey Tettleton, went 18 of 31 for 218 yards with three interceptions. He also ran for a touchdown, but his final interception -- with 8:49 to play -- set the stage for the Northern Illinois comeback.

Harnish needed only four plays to cut into the lead, and Moore's touchdown catch made it 20-13. Sims missed the extra point, but when the Huskies got the ball back, they went 57 yards in six plays to tie it.

A mishap on a shotgun snap cost Ohio 12 yards, and after the Bobcats punted, Northern Illinois took over on its own 36 with 1:18 to play. Perez Ashford leaped backward to make a terrific catch for a 27-yard gain, and Harnish found Moore for 15 yards to the Ohio 19.

After that, it was just a question of lining up Sims for the winning kick.

"I knew I wasn't going to let my team down twice," Sims said. "I just lost my focus on the extra point, but I was ready for that field goal."

Ohio had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Bobcats defensive lineman Corey Hasting was ejected early in the third quarter when officials said he threw a punch during a scramble for a Northern Illinois fumble. The Bobcats recovered that ball but couldn't extend their lead, and Harnish found Palmer for a 39-yard touchdown to make it 20-7.

Northern Illinois caught a break in the fourth quarter when Matt Weller missed a 36-yard field goal, his first miss of the season from inside 40. Still, Ohio wasn't in too much trouble until Tettleton's deep pass over the middle was picked off by Jimmie Ward at the Northern Illinois 37 for the game's seventh and final turnover.

Tettleton was aggressive at the start, throwing a 44-yard pass to LaVon Brazill on the first snap of the game. The Bobcats didn't score on that possession -- Tettleton was intercepted in the end zone -- but they got the ball back in good field position when Harnish's pass went through the hands of Da'Ron Brown and was intercepted by Noah Keller.

It was Harnish's first interception in six games, and Weller opened the scoring with a 30-yard field goal.

The Bobcats reached the end zone with a little trickery on their next possession. Ohio ran two reverses on the same drive, but the second turned into a reverse pass when Phil Bates found Donte Foster for a 24-yard touchdown.

Harnish was held to minus-2 yards passing in the first quarter, and his second-quarter fumble ended the Huskies' only solid drive of the first half. Ohio took advantage, driving 87 yards in nine plays and taking a 20-0 lead when Tettleton dropped back, avoided a possible sack, then ran up the middle through the Northern Illinois defense for an 18-yard touchdown.

But the Bobcats seemed content toward the end of the half, letting Northern Illinois run time off before punting late in the second quarter, then running out the clock themselves.

Ohio didn't score again.

Nov. 25 at Northern Illinois 18 … Eastern Michigan 12  

Nov. 15  at Northern Illinois 41 … Ball State 38  

Nov. 8 at Northern Illinois 45 … Bowling Green 14 

Nov. 1 Northern Illinois 63 … at Toledo 60
CFN Analysis: Chandler Harnish has had a special career, but this was his shining moment, completing 17-of-26 passes for 265 yards and six touchdowns, and running 16 times for 133 yards. More than that, he was brilliant leading the offense back late in the fourth quarter with two key drives including the game-winner, culminating in a four-yard scoring pass in the final few seconds. As good as he was, TommyLee Lewis was every bit the star with two kickoff returns for a score. The defense wasn’t even close to stopping Toledo, but that was this kind of a game and Harnish turned out to be a bit better. Winners of four straight, the West is there for the taking with relative layups against Bowling Green, Ball State, and Eastern Michigan to go. 

Oct. 22 Northern Illinois 31 … at Buffalo 30

Oct. 15 at Northern Illinois 51 … Western Michigan 22
CFN Analysis: Now that’s how the offense is supposed to work. After a sluggish start, BOOM. The ground game destroyed WMU with Chandler Harnish running for 229 yards and Jordan Lynch adding 113. Jasmin Hopkins kicked in with three touchdowns and 91 touch yards with the Huskies finishing with 494 yards while controlling the game. The defense cave up a few plays, but it clamped down in the second half, and the defensive front was fantastic in a game that proved that the MAC title is still there for the taking. Going on the road over the next three weeks seem rough, but Buffalo is winnable next week before the showdown against Toledo. With the way the O line is playing, NIU should be ready.  

Oct. 8 at Northern Illinois 40 … Kent State 10
CFN Analysis: The defense was phenomenal. Kent State might not have any semblance of an offense, but the D allowed just 70 yards as the Huskies came up with seven sacks and didn’t allow QB Spencer Keith a chance to breathe. It wasn’t a dominant game from the offense, but Chandler Harnish completing 12-of-15 passes for 113 yards and a score, and the running game got production from several parts, including 65 yards from Harnish. After the debacle against Central Michigan, the Huskies needed a game like this, but the O has to be back to 2010 form in a hurry with Western Michigan coming up next. The MAC West is still there for the taking, but this win over the Golden Flashes can’t be an aberration.  

Oct. 1 at Central Michigan 48 ... Northern Illinois 41
CFN Analysis: NIU slept through the first quarter and it couldn’t catch up. The run defense has been a nightmare all season long, but this loss is on a secondary that couldn’t come up with a stop, and a pass rush that hasn’t shown up all year long. Chandler Harnish was Chandler Harnish, throwing for 370 yards and two scores, while running for 92 yards and a touchdown, but the offense wasn’t the issue. CMU got way too much time to work and Ryan Radcliff got too much time to let the deep plays develop, and NIU couldn’t come up with the key stop. Kent State won’t be a problem next week, but if NIU has any hope of being in the MAC title race, it had better be prepared for another shootout in two weeks against Western Michigan. 

Sept. 24 at Northern Illinois 47 … Cal Poly 30
CFN Analysis: Northern Illinois got back on track after the Wisconsin debacle by getting back to the running game. Chandler Harnish was nearly perfect, completing 18-of-21 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 118 yards and a score. Jasmin Hopkins ground out 143 yards and two scores as part of the 355 rushing yards the Huskies cranked out, and despite the not-that-bad looking final score, it was a blowout. The run defense remains way too soft and the pass rush has been mediocre, but with lightweights Central Michigan and Kent State up next, there’s time to work on it before dealing with Western Michigan.

Sept. 17 Wisconsin 49 … Northern Illinois 7
CFN Analysis: The Huskies ran into a buzzsaw. The run defense didn’t show up against Army or Kansas, and it didn’t have a prayer against the Badgers. NIU tried to get quirky with an onside kick after its lone score, but that backfired, the defense got marched on, and it was game over. This is now two straight weeks with defensive meltdowns, but going against Cal Poly, Central Michigan, and Kent State over the next three weeks should make things better for a while. NIU has to get back to pounding the ball like it did last year, and the more from the running backs, the better. The Wisconsin game just has to be seen as a tough day against one of the nation’s best teams, and that’s it.

Sept. 10 at Kansas 45 … Northern Illinois 42
CFN Analysis: Northern Illinois got yet another brilliant game out of Chandler Harnish, but not enough from anyone else. Harnish completed 27-of-33 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for 89 yards and three scores, but his defense didn’t provide any help whatsoever. There weren’t nearly enough stops against the pedestrian KU running game, and there weren’t nearly enough third down stops allowing the Jayhawks to hold on to the ball for close to 37 minutes. NIU has a puncher’s chance of beating Wisconsin next week, but the run defense has to come up with a new wrinkle in a hurry and the running backs have to help out Harnish.
 
Sept. 3 at Northern Illinois 49 … Army 26
CFN Analysis: The NIU running game was business as usual with Jasmin Hopkins taking over the job left by Chad Spann and running for 138 yards on 14 carries. As good as the ground game was, this was the Chandler Harnish show completing 12-of-19 passes for 195 yards and five scores with a pick, while running 11 times for 80 yards and a score. The passing production was spread around with five different players catching touchdown passes. The run defense struggled against the great Army ground game, but the Huskies got up so big so fast that it didn’t matter. If Harnish can stay this good, and if the offense can roll like this against a good team like Army, who should end up in a bowl, then Kansas is in big trouble next week.